What a goddamned clusterfuck. “You said it involves people we may know,” I said. “Who?”
“From what I understand, it’s a crew you met on a show. A man named Li Jun along with his group. Also, a few others you have in your current chat circle.”
For fuck’s sake, how much did Hekla know about me? Was Katia just feeding her everything I did and said? How could she know who my friends were otherwise? It made me wonder if Hekla had spies strategically placed everywhere. Jesus, was that possible? Or was I being overly paranoid? I was in over my head, and I knew it.
And even worse, I had enough wits about myself to recognize that asking me to help her was a masterful move by Hekla. How could we not help? I’d look like a cowardly idiot if I didn’t.
Plus I wanted to. A thousand people? And Li Jun and possibly his sister Li Na and friend Zhang? I’d last seen them when they’d unwittingly been dragged onto the Maestro’s show for the Death Watch segment. But they’d managed to save themselves. I didn’t really owe them anything, but if they were truly trapped, how couldn’t I help?
But what about Bautista, all the way at the end of the line?
You can’t save them all.
I couldn’t save anybody if I ended up dead.
So what should I do? I had no idea how to help Bautista. I could try going back through the portal with the Nightmare, but then what? I didn’t even know if there was more than one abyss station. No, it simply didn’t make sense.
I had to look at this logically. If Hekla’s plan was to kill or otherwise discredit me and get Donut to join up with them, so they in turn had access to Mordecai, they had to do it without Donut knowing that’s what they did. Or Mordecai. And the only way to do it would be to make it look like an accident. But how could they possibly do that when literally the entire universe was watching them at all times? It’d be easy to hide something from Donut at first, but Hekla had to know by now that people like Odette existed. Information entered the dungeon like drops through a leaky roof.
Whatever it was, it wouldn’t happen right away. Donut worshipped Hekla, and once Donut latched onto someone, it was hard to get her to unlatch. But she didn’t know any of the other newcomers. I’d made a serious mistake by not talking about this earlier. I would have to start fixing it now.
I glanced over at the cobra-headed Eva and met her eyes. A very slight smile curved her mouth. A smile that did not reach her eyes.
Carclass="underline" Donut. Be careful, okay? I am getting a bad vibe from that Eva woman. Don’t trust her.
Donut: RIGHT? SHE’S SCARY. SHE KEEPS LOOKING AT YOU LIKE YOU’RE A CAN OF FANCY FEAST.
Carclass="underline" If anything happens to me, question everything.
Donut: WHAT DO YOU MEAN?
Carclass="underline" Just watch that one, okay? And keep an eye on Hekla, too. I know you like her, and so do I, but I don’t think she likes me too much. She might let me get hurt if it will help her team.
I quickly rummaged through my inventory and rearranged some items on my hotlist. I added that invisibility potion I’d gotten from the suitcase into one of my slots. Then I added Mordecai’s Special Brew, which would give me almost-invulnerability for about thirty seconds. I had to be careful with that one since it made it so I couldn’t take another potion for ten hours afterward.
“Okay,” I said out loud. “We’ll help. Just don’t get me killed so you can have Donut all to yourself.”
Eva’s mouth tightened. Hekla laughed. And at that moment, I saw it. It was just a glimmer in the normally stoic woman’s facade, but it was there. She’s having fun. She likes this. She’s as crazy as the rest of us.
“We were just looking at the map,” Katia said, indicating the large paper on the counter. “Vermillion is a colored line, but it’s different than the others. I think it’s one of the ones that Widget the gremlin was talking about when he mentioned the Terminus Direct. It looks like it runs the whole line in about a day.”
“Okay,” I said. “So what are you proposing?”
Hekla crossed her arms, suddenly all business. “We’re taking a Vermillion subway train down to 101, picking everybody up, and we’re taking them back by going reverse, using a second engine attached to the back. We tested it, and it works well. We’ll come back to a stairwell station where we can make a stand. We’ll hold out until the stairwells open.”
“So you have a train? What about the wreckage on the track?”
“There is no wreckage on the Vermillion line. And it’s one of the few with the power still turned on. We discovered the train just sitting there, ready to go when we teleported to that building near the trainyard. The engineer was out of the train, inspecting it when we showed up. I shot him, took the route map, and we took the train. It doesn’t look like this train ever ran. It has three passenger cars, but the rest are cargo containers. They are supposed to roll the ghouls onto the train and transport them to the abyss. But it never ran. And since it never ran, it never crashed. Eva stole a second engine and backed it into the train. We drove it down to stop sixty and left it on the tracks to come here.”
I nodded appreciatively. “Is there a cowcatcher on it?”
Hekla grimaced. “That, Carl, is the problem. It’s a subway car, and it is not designed to withstand such abuse. There are hordes of ghouls on the tracks further up the lines. There is a small device at the front, but it does not work well. When we hit the few ghouls that were on the track, it was okay, but I can tell it will be a problem when we push through the heavier hordes. The track is about to get very dense, and I fear pushing through so many is going to derail it. If we go slow, we will be overwhelmed. We have to move fast, but the faster we move increases the chances of a wreck. That’s why we came here first.”
I started mentally working on the problem. I had plenty of metal in my inventory. I’d have to go up there and measure the front of the train, as each one was a little different. “So you want me to build you a cowcatcher, or some other device to put on the front of the train?”
“Well, yes, but you’ve already built what we need.” Hekla turned to Katia, who appeared as if she was going to vomit.
I felt the blood drain from my face.
Donut was the first to object.
“You want to stick Katia to the front of the train?” she said, sounding outraged. “Are you kidding? That sounds like a Carl plan.”
“Yes,” Hekla said.
Carclass="underline" Katia. You don’t have to do this. I can build a metal one.
Katia: It’s okay, Carl. This is what I’m for. You said it yourself. I need to learn to use my race properly. We don’t have time to build anything.
Donut: CARL IS RIGHT. YOU ARE GOING TO GET HURT.
It was actually a brilliant idea, and I was impressed at the sheer insanity of it. But I would never let her do it if it was up to me. It was simply too dangerous.
Carclass="underline" You’re not disposable, Katia. Hekla is treating you as if you are. I’m sorry if I didn’t make you feel welcome. You can say no. You can stay with me and Donut.
Katia: This was my idea. I’m the one who came up with it. It’s why they’re here now.
Carclass="underline" Your idea?
I was so flabbergasted I didn’t know what to say.
Katia: I altered the backpack and made it wider using your engineering table while you were gone. I have more metal in there now. I can make myself even bigger. I’ve also added rubber to the mix. If I layer it between the metal and flesh, it absorbs the impacts. I just need help with the design for the front of the train. I need to be careful of that third rail.